Dec. 3 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron
said he’s raising concerns about human rights with Chinese
leaders at the same time as pushing for increased trade and
growing Chinese investment in Britain.

“I come to China and I don’t believe there’s a choice
between raising growth and investment issues and raising human-rights issues; I raise them both,” Cameron told reporters in
Beijing yesterday as he began a three-day visit to the world’s
second-largest economy. “There are some huge opportunities here
in China for British jobs, British growth and British
investment. I want to make the most of them.”

Cameron and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang signed memorandums
of understanding yesterday on infrastructure investment, and Li
said China wanted to increase its involvement in projects
including the high-speed rail line from London to the north of
England. China has already agreed to put money into building new
nuclear plants in the U.K.

The trade focus in China contrasts with Cameron’s last
foreign trip last month, which was dominated by a confrontation
between the prime minister and Sri Lankan President Mahinda
Rajapaksa on human rights. Cameron called on the Sri Lankan
leader to take action to investigate alleged abuses against the
island’s Tamil minority.

‘Totally Consistent’

The prime minister said his approach was “totally
consistent” and that he’d reached agreement in his talks to
restart a human-rights dialogue between the U.K. and China.

Cameron’s office announced today that Rolls-Royce Holdings
Plc sold 70 million pounds ($115 million) of engines to
PetroChina Co. Ltd. In other deals, Surrey Satellite Technology
Ltd. sold 100 million pounds of satellites and SolaQuaGen Ltd.
sold desalination plants for 225 million pounds.

Cameron, who’s on his first visit to China in three years,
is attempting to move on from the diplomatic spats that have
characterized his relations with the country so far.

The previous trip, in November 2010, was marred by his
refusal of a Chinese request to remove a poppy, worn in memory
of Britain’s war dead, from his lapel. The flower has a
different meaning in China, which lost two opium wars with
Britain in the 19th century. Then in 2012, China said Cameron
had “seriously damaged” relations by meeting the Tibetan
spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

China accuses the Dalai Lama of waging a campaign for
independence, while he says he seeks “genuine autonomy” for
Tibet.

CCTV Interview

Cameron said in an interview with CCTV today that Britain
and China have “come to an understanding” over the areas that
had clouded their relationship. “It’s clear to me China is an
opportunity, not a threat,” he said.

A People’s Daily newspaper commentary in October said the
U.K. had admitted mishandling the issue of Tibet, easing the way
for economic and financial deals. Cameron said yesterday policy
on Tibet is unchanged. He said he doesn’t have plans to meet the
Dalai Lama again “but my diary is for me to decide.”

He said he’d mentioned Tibet in his talks with Li and
Chinese President Xi Jinping.

In an editorial today, the Chinese state-run Global Times
newspaper said the public won’t forget Cameron’s stance on
“certain issues.”

“The Cameron administration should acknowledge that the
U.K. is not a big power in the eyes of the Chinese,” the
editorial said. “It is just an old European country apt for
travel and study.”

Business Delegation

The prime minister is traveling with a 100-strong business
delegation on the three-day journey to three cities. He arrived
late last night in Shanghai, where today he met billionaire Jack
Ma, the founder of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., China’s largest
e-commerce company.

Cameron started his trip yesterday by calling for a full-scale free-trade agreement between the European Union and China,
along the lines of the one being negotiated between the 28-nation bloc and the U.S.

Asked about the possibility of a deal with China, EU
spokesman Alexandre Polack said in Brussels that any discussion
was “premature.”